1. Technical Field
The present principles relate generally to vehicle infrastructure and, in particular, to wear leveling for road life optimization.
2. Description of the Related Art
The passage of any vehicle over a road can be associated with an incremental wear profile. One of the primary determinants of this wear profile is the location of velocity change points. Velocity change points include stop signs, give way signs, traffic lights, speed limit change points (e.g., when the speed limit drops from 100 km/h to 60 km/h upon entering a built-up area), and so forth. FIG. 1 shows two related graphs representing the current practice of allowing wear to build up in one area. The first graph 110 shows the nominal incremental wear profile 111 versus the longitudinal position along the road segment 112, as well as the peak wear 113. The second graph 160 shows the cumulative wear profile 161 versus the longitudinal position along the road segment 112, as well as a traffic signal 163 which essentially results in the peak wear 113 at the shown location 114 in the first graph 110. Over time the non-uniform profile leads to failure in the high-wear regions, while the low-wear regions remain in good condition. However, maintenance action is triggered by the most worn region. Further, while localized repairs can be performed on high-wear regions, the cost of sending a crew to the site and closing the road means it is economically advantageous to replace large segments at low frequency when compared to repairing small segments at high frequency.